Hermann Minkowski
(June 22, 1864 ? January 12, 1909) was a
German
mathematician
of
Lithuanian Jewish
descent, who created and developed the
geometry of numbers
and who used geometrical methods to solve difficult problems in
number theory
,
mathematical physics
, and the
theory of relativity
.
Life and work
Hermann Minkowski was born in
Aleksotas
, a suburb of
Kaunas
, which was then part of the
Russian Empire
, now
Lithuania
, to a family of
Jewish
descent.
[1]
Hermann was educated in Germany at the
Albertina
University of Konigsberg
, where he achieved his doctorate in 1885 under direction of
Ferdinand von Lindemann
. While still a student at Konigsberg, in 1883 he was awarded the Mathematics Prize of the
French Academy of Sciences
for his manuscript on the theory of
quadratic forms
. He also became a friend of another German mathematician,
David Hilbert
. His brother,
Oskar Minkowski
(1858?1931), was a well-known physician and researcher.
Minkowski taught at the universities of
Bonn
,
Gottingen
,
Konigsberg
and
Zurich
. At the
Eidgenossische Polytechnikum
, today the
ETH Zurich
, he was one of
Einstein
's teachers.
Minkowski explored the
arithmetic of quadratic forms
, especially concerning
n
variables, and his research into that topic led him to consider certain geometric properties in a space of
n
dimensions
. In 1896, he presented his
geometry of numbers
, a geometrical method that solved problems in
number theory
.
In 1902, he joined the Mathematics Department of
Gottingen
and became one of the close colleagues of
David Hilbert
, whom he first met in Konigsberg.
Constantin Caratheodory
was one of his students there.
Minkowski died suddenly of
appendicitis
in
Gottingen
in 1909.
Relativity
By 1907 Minkowski realized that the
special theory of relativity
, introduced by
Albert Einstein
in 1905 and based on previous work of
Lorentz
and
Poincare
, could be best understood in a four dimensional space, since known as "
Minkowski spacetime
", in which
time
and
space
are not separated entities but intermingled in a four dimensional
space-time
, and in which the
Lorentz geometry
of special relativity can be nicely represented. The beginning part of his address delivered at the 80th
Assembly of German Natural Scientists and Physicians
(September 21, 1908) is now famous:
"The views of space and time which I wish to lay before you have sprung from the soil of experimental physics, and therein lies their strength. They are radical. Henceforth space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality."
Citations
David Hilbert
's obituary of Minkowski illustrates the deep friendship between the two mathematicians:
- Seit meiner Studienzeit war mir Minkowski der beste und zuverlassigste Freund, der an mir hing mit der ganzen ihm eigenen Tiefe und Treue. Unsere Wissenschaft, die uns das liebste war, hatte uns zusammengefuhrt; sie erschien uns wie ein bluhender Garten. Gern suchten wir dort auch verborgene Pfade auf und entdeckten manche neue, uns schon dunkende Aussicht, und wenn der eine dem andern sie zeigte und wir sie gemeinsam bewunderten, war unsere Freude vollkommen. Er war mir ein Geschenk des Himmels, wie es nur selten jemand zuteil wird, und ich muss dankbar sein, dass ich es so lange besaß. Jah hat ihn der Tod von unserer Seite gerissen. Was uns aber der Tod nicht nehmen kann, das ist sein edles Bild in unserem Herzen und das Bewusstsein, dass sein Geist in uns fortwirkt.
- Translated:
- Since my student years Minkowski was my best, most dependable friend who supported me with all the depth and loyalty that was so characteristic of him. Our science, which we loved above all else, brought us together; it seemed to us a garden full of flowers. In it, we enjoyed looking for hidden pathways and discovered many a new perspective that appealed to our sense of beauty, and when one of us showed it to the other and we marvelled over it together, our joy was complete. He was for me a rare gift from heaven and I must be grateful to have possessed that gift for so long. Now death has suddenly torn him from our midst. However, what death cannot take away is his noble image in our hearts and the knowledge that his spirit in us continue to be active.
The
asteroid
12493 Minkowski
and
M-matrices
are named in his honour.
Publications
- Relativity papers
- Minkowski, Hermann (1908/9).
"Raum und Zeit"
.
Jahresberichte der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung
: 75?88.
- English translation:
Space and Time
. In: The Principle of Relativity (1920), Calcutta: University Press, 70-88
- Mathematical papers
See also
Notes
External links
German
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
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